Meet The Team
Courtney Labat DaValle
Owner/Director
Courtney Labat DaValle is a captivating performer, instructor, choreographer, and artist. This Louisiana native began her dance career at the age of three and has trained extensively in ballet, contemporary, lyrical, tap, and jazz. During her competition years, she took top honors both regionally and nationally for her jazz and lyrical performances. Her passion for dance along with her love of football lead her to become a member of the Louisiana State University Golden Girls. During her time with the Golden Girls, she was chosen to travel internationally to Hong Kong to perform in the prestigious Chinese New Year’s Parade. After receiving her Bachelors of Biology from Louisiana State University, Courtney became an NFL cheerleader, dancing and cheering for her favorite team the New Orleans Saints. Courtney was also an instructor and choreographer for both competitive and performance based studios. With her training, her students have received top awards at numerous competitions (KAR, Rainbow, Starpower, Tremaine, Starbound. etc.) and many have been selected for New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, American Ballet Theatre, Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre, and the Relativity School just to name a few. Professionally, Courtney has performed with Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child, the Jonas Brothers, Snoop Dog, Neil Patrick Harris, & Dave Bickler. She has also worked with various choreographers and companies such as Fatima Robinson, Adrian Wiltshire, Disney, Lego, the NFL, DirecTV, Entertainment Tonight, and Chevron. In addition, Courtney is also a former judge for Showstopper National Dance Competition! She holds certification with Acrobatic Arts, the industry leader in AcroDance and is a certified instructor for AcroDance Preschool & is heading into Module 1 Certification for AcroDance levels 1-6 in just 2 weeks! She is also certified in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) and LOVES the progress achieved in ALDA's PBT classes!! Ms. Courtney takes the greatest pride in helping her students achieve their highest potential and is extrememly excited to welcome all dancers joining the Alta Loma Dance Academy family!
Freya Starks
Instructor/Choreographer
Maddison Nall
Instructor/Choreographer
Megan Geier
Instructor/Choreographer
Courtney "Mr. C" Winder
Instructor/Choreographer
Summer Betancourt
Instructor/Choreographer
Freya Starks is a graduate from the University of California, Irvine with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Education Sciences. Freya has performed in many professional works with the Sacramento Ballet, Sacramento’s Best of Broadway, Core Contemporary Dance Company and Geometry Dance Company. Freya’s choreographic works have been featured in Physical Graffiti, Bare Bones and East Meets West performances. She has choreographed with musicians from the St. Cecelia Conservatory of Rome, Italy and is a colleague of The Next Festival of Emerging Artists. Freya is extensively trained in jazz, tap, lyrical, hip hop, contemporary, musical theater, ballet, pointe and modern dance. She was a backup dancer in Jimmie Allen’s music video and has worked alongside Lar Lubavitch, Kelli Leighton, Amy Berokoff, Francisco Gella, Ama Wray and many more. Currently, Freya is a company member of Geometry Contemporary Dance Company 2 and is the Co-Director of ALDA’s EDGE competitive dance program. Freya is so excited to choreograph art and share the joy of dancing to the next generation!
Maddison is a talented award winning triple threat performer with 20+ years of training under
her belt. She has professionally trained to be a singer, actor, and dancer since the age of 4 and
developed a love for performing ever since. She has been working and volunteering with
children since she was 11 y/o and officially hired when she was 16 y/o to be a dance instructor
and choreographer. Maddison has worked and performed with several high brand name
companies such as Disney, Nickelodeon, and Universal just to name a few. She has trained in
almost all styles of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, modern,
musical theatre, and ballroom dance. She used to dance competitively throughout her years of
training, but has now found her love in teaching. Following her degree for English Literature,
Maddison received her degree in Dance, along with her certification for Commercial Dance. She
is also a certified instructor for the Acrobatic Arts AcroDance Preschool program. Outside of
ALDA, Maddison has choreographed full blown broadway style shows such as The Little
Mermaid. As well as performing in multiple award winning productions including, but not limited
to, Beauty and the Beast, Legally Blonde, and The Wizard of Oz. Maddison has performed for
and has been recognized/awarded with several awards with the National Youth Arts Awards
program. Maddison now holds her role here at ALDA as a Company Team Co-
Director/Instructor and Choreographer. She holds her ALDA family close to her heart and looks
forward to another amazing season!
As the third of eight performance-loving siblings, Megan was surrounded with dance, acting, singing, and instrumental music from a young age. She began her dance training at the age of three with ballet and tap. She later added jazz, lyrical, and contemporary into her repertoire. In high school she performed on the colorguard team for four years, gaining experience in field and winterguard shows, competitions, community performances, and parades. As a senior in high school, she was awarded the role of colorguard captain and helped to lead her team to their first ever world championship competition. In college she developed her love for acting. She was casted in several theater productions and student films of all genres. She founded and ran her school's first dance club and her skills allowed her to choreograph several music videos, short films, and musicals. She graduated with a degree in communications media with an emphasis in acting in 2018. She was hired on by her alma mater to choreograph all of their musical theater productions, and still continues in that path today. Some of her recent credits include John Paul the Great Catholic University's "Beauty and the Beast" and "Newsies," Coronado Playhouse's "Nunsense," and Inland Conservatory for the Performing Arts' "the Music Man." She's also had the opportunity to choreograph for short films around Los Angeles, as well as acting in recent TV shows, movies, commercials, short films, and music videos. She has worked regularly with Universal, Sony, Warner Brothers, HBO, Amazon, and more!​
Courtney Winder has over 15 years of experience in the dance industry, beginning with rigorous training in Jazz, Modern, Ballet, and Hip-Hop at Allan Hancock College on the central coast of California. He advanced his training and career by joining the San Luis Obispo-based CORE dance company, where he underwent a multi-year intensive Jazz and Hip-Hop curriculum, showcasing his talents through performances at various local shows and events and teaching at multiple studios around the Santa Barbara area. He went on to start a local dance company with fellow dancers that focused on raising awareness for the arts in his community, outreach, and offered free dance training. Courtney moved to L.A., where he pursued more dance opportunities and took advantage of working and training with dancers on the professional level. Through his efforts, he was granted the privilege of teaching stints at International Dance Academy Hollywood, Millennium Dance Complex, and Debbie Allen Dance Academy, where he also trained/choreographed for L.A.-based dance companies. He has also had the opportunity to choreograph halftime shows for the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, L.A. Sparks, and the Rose Bowl. Currently, Mr. C is a dance educator in the LAUSD school district and is head of the ALDA Groove Crew Competitive Team.
Summer Betancourt has trained, performed, and competed in various dance styles such as: jazz, tap, ballet, musical theatre, contemporary, modern, hiphop, and lyrical for 15 years. She has taught at multiple dance studios and is a professional choreographer for theatre entertainment in the Inland Empire. Summer holds a bachelors degree in Theatre Performance from California Baptist University. Her choreography credits includes: Temecula Valley Players: Oklahoma; Tweedlie Center for the Arts: Into The Woods Jr., Elf Jr.; Christian Arts & Theatre: Aristocats, Winnie the Pooh; California Baptist University: Cinderella; Temecula Valley Players: Oliver; Redlands Theatre Festival: Head Over Heels; Christian Arts & Theatre: A Year With Frog and Toad; Temecula Valley Players: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; California Theatre: Beauty and the Beast; California Baptist University: Wizard of Oz; Temecula Valley Players: A Christmas Carol, Mamma Mia; and California Theatre: Mamma Mia. Summer loves teaching dance and sharing her passion with others!
Keira Johnson
Instructor/Choreographer
McKenna Hartman
Instructor/Choreographer
Kara Ajetunmobi
Instructor/Choreographer
Cassie Araujo
Keira began her dance training at Inland Pacific Ballet Academy at the age of four. She later went on to dance professionally with Inland Pacific Ballet and had the opportunity to perform in various professional productions including The Nutcracker, Paquita, and Cinderella. She has attended several prestigious summer intensives including Houston Ballet, Colorado Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet on scholarship. Keira was invited to Pennsylvania to train at the Rock School for Dance Education on scholarship under the direction of Peter Stark. She graduated from the Rock School and had the privilege of working with teachers including Telmo Moreira, Natasha Zieger, Magaly Suarez, and Stephanie Spassoff. She participated in the Youth American Grand Prix in 2018, 2019, and 2022. She appreciates every opportunity she has been given to dance and loves getting to share her knowledge with aspiring dancers.
Mckenna Hartman started dancing at a small studio in Paso Robles, California at the age of 4.
She was in multiple dance companies and productions within her studio and competed in
several dance competitions throughout her time there. McKenna began teaching dance in 2018 and started choreographing in 2020. From 2021-2023 she was a choreographer for her studios competition team and won awards ranging from 1st place to 5th place. Mckenna has just recently moved to Upland, CA and has taught at ALDA since March 2024. She is so excited to start her first full season here at ALDA this year! McKenna hopes that her students will find the love to dance and have a blast in her dance classes this Season!
Bio coming soon!
Bio coming soon!
Instructor/Choreographer
Lena Arriaga
Office Manager
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Graciela Jauregui
Administrative Assistant
Brianna Forbes
Administrative Assistant